Edgar Allan Poe
Paperback | Pages: 121 pages Rating: 3.98 | 1999 Users | 96 Reviews
Specify Books Supposing The Gold-Bug and Other Tales
| ISBN: | 0486268756 (ISBN13: 9780486268750) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rendition Concering Books The Gold-Bug and Other Tales
Originally posted on the book blog Creature From the Book Lagoon.Like most horror fans, I had a Poe phase when I was younger. In high school I read a lot of his short stories and his poetry. Masque of the Red Death has always been my favorite item from him. That story is AMAZING. It has, however, been a loooonnngg time since reading Poe in high school, or any Poe for that matter.
The book I checked out from the library is a collection of Poe’s 9 best short stories, listed in the order that they were originally published.
Ligeia
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Masque of the Red Death
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Gold-Bug
The Black Cat
The Cask of Amontillado
Most of these stories I had already read. The Fall of the House of Usher, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and The Gold-Bug I had not read before. Ligeia, not only had I never read before, but I had also never even heard of that one (as far as I recall). Because I was short on time this month and still have other books to read before the year is over, I decided to skip re-reading the stories I already knew, and just read the one I needed for the challenge plus the 4 I had never read before. So in this review, I’m only going to talk about those 4 stories I had not read before, while briefly mentioning the others at the end of the post.
I had a lot of problems reading Ligeia. I really struggled with Poe’s word choices and prose. He goes all out in showing you how fancy he can write and how vast his vocab is. It was a little bit too much for my brain to wrap around. I got the gist of the story though. I think…? It was a very odd story… There is this woman, who is amazing. There is a guy who loves her. Then the woman dies. So the man marries another woman. Man hates his wife and longs for the amazing woman. Man does lots of opium. Wife dies. Then she comes back to life but it is no longer the wife that is there, but the amazing woman back from the dead. Ok… so…. huh? Is the amazing woman taking over the dead wife’s body? Is this ghost possession? Is it all made up because the man is on so much opium he has no clue what is really going on? So many questions at the end of this one! I didn’t care for this one. The style was difficult for me to follow and with too many questions at the end left me feeling frustrated.
The Fall of the House of Usher was a lot easier for me to read and was much more like the Poe I remembered. Like so much of Poe’s work, this story displayed how familiar Poe was to mental health issues, especially depression and extreme anxiety. While this story is not a favorite of mine, I do love how Poe describes the anxiety and the tension that rises from it. You can feel the anxiety slowly start to squeeze around your heart, gripping it tighter and tighter until the very end. There was a lot to digest in this story, particularly the connection between the twins sickness and the decay of the house of User.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a story I had always wanted to read. It has been long hailed as a grandfather to the modern mystery. Sadly, even though I had never read the story before, I knew about who the killer was. I WISH I could have read this without having already known about that! Going in to the story already knowing that, I think it took some of the fun out of it for me. :/ I can just imagine what a twist it was back in the day this story came out…. to read a story that talked about figuring out the clues and following the trail of logic to the surprise killer ending. Wish it hadn’t been spoiled for me long ago. I did enjoy watching the main characters follow a long the investigation. Even with the spoiler, it was still an interesting story.
The Gold-Bug was another story I hadn’t read. Unlike Rue Morgue, Gold-Bug had not been spoiled for me. In fact, I went in knowing nothing about this story other then it was another one of Poe’s mysteries. I was surprised that it was more of a treasure seeking action adventure story. I had not been expecting that at all. I love treasure seeking action adventure stuff. Yay! 😀 I was really surprised at how well thought out every detail was in this story. It was seriously well crafted story and puzzle. A very enjoyable read and I’m happy I finally got around to reading this one.
The rest of the stories in this short story collection are stories I already knew and loved. They are amazing works of horror that seriously know how to raise the tension bar to an extreme my-heart-is-about-to-explode!! level. I have always thought that Mr. Poe is seriously one of the best all time writers at capturing what it feels like to have extreme anxiety disorders and depression. Even today, with more knowledge in how the brain works and mental health, you still don’t find that many authors who can write it as convincingly as Poe. This was an excellent collection of his best short stories and a very entertaining quick read. Highly recommended for new and old fans alike.
Identify Appertaining To Books The Gold-Bug and Other Tales
| Title | : | The Gold-Bug and Other Tales |
| Author | : | Edgar Allan Poe |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 121 pages |
| Published | : | June 1st 1991 by Dover Publications (first published 1843) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Fiction. Horror. Short Stories. Mystery. Literature. Academic. School |
Rating Appertaining To Books The Gold-Bug and Other Tales
Ratings: 3.98 From 1999 Users | 96 ReviewsColumn Appertaining To Books The Gold-Bug and Other Tales
Are you tired of predictable, dull, ordinary fiction novels? Become captivated by the grim twists of Edgar Allan Poes enthralling collection of masterpieces:The Gold-Bug and Other Tales. Embark on a gothic journey through the mystery, tragedy, and horror of nine of Poes classic short stories to Germany, North England, the Rue Montmartre in Paris, a hut on Sullivan's island in South Carolina, and mysterious unknown locations of a haunted estate, a prison cell during the Spanish inquisition, andTwo stars for the great writing that Poe is capable of and another one for the Sherlock-like, wonderful "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." Can't recommend this book, and I'm glad it's over.
A good set of short stories of various genres: adventure, detective, mystery. The English language is old (1830s), so it's that easy to read sometimes. Edgar Poe was a very smart and analytical man, you can feel it in the book the two stories about Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin are especially interesting since he could solve crimes by logical analysis.
I skipped The Gold-Bug, Tell-Tale Heart and the Black Cat. I find I am not a fan of Poe. The prose is dated and his descriptions evoke no horror for me. To me the best was The Fall of the House of Usher and I was optimistic, but as I read on the other stories revealed it was not meant to be. Im reminded of Lovecraft, however Lovecraft is strange and in the strangeness there is the horror and imagery. The Cask of Amontillado and the Masque of Red Death are enjoyable quite possibly because of the
Mr Poe was one sick puppy. Nevertheless these stories were far more entertaining than I thought they'd be. The mystery ones were a bit hard going when the narrator gave lectures on logic and occasionally the stories were so gothic they were laughable. At other times though, they were so unexpectedly violent and depraved they were disturbing (animal lovers best not read 'the black cat'). He's also good at building suspense and capturing narrative voice, mostly of unhinged people (see 'telltale
The stories of Poe are really interesting, with nice plots and it has the only story that in my life has provoked a nightmare. However, just like Wilde did, the use of a romantic writing style (full of complicated descriptions) and the use of XIX century vocabulary make of this book a difficult read for somebody whose native language is not english.It is a don't miss, but if your native language is not english I will definitively (and for the first time I will) suggest to get a translation to
Two stars for the great writing that Poe is capable of and another one for the Sherlock-like, wonderful "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." Can't recommend this book, and I'm glad it's over.
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